Mercado concept shelved; Horwitz plans restaurant

Mercado, a restaurant-based market once planned for Buffalo, not unlike this one Bobby Flay visits in Madrid, will go no further. (Lourdes Segade for The New York Times)

By Andrew Z. Galarneau

Updated 7:56 AM , August 18, 2014

The Mercado Revolution might have fizzled, but organizer Jeremy Horwitz still plans to open a Buffalo-area restaurant in 2015.

“Issues that came up derailed it timing-wise,” said Mercado spokeswoman Nanette Tramont. “We are working to concentrate our favorite elements from Mercado into an equally wonderful new experience.”

Horwitz is currently considering sites that couldn’t accommodate the larger-scale Mercado concept, Tramont said. “It will incorporate many of the elements and core of the Mercado idea, the type of food and the level of food, a new thing in Buffalo.”

In March, Horwitz announced plans for a gourmet food hall called Mercado, to be anchored by an innovative food counter and populated with a host of local food businesses.

An attempt to raise $150,000 through Kickstarter fell short, but a subsequent fundraising effort surpassed its $70,000 goal. On Aug. 12, Horwitz announced that the Mercado plan was being shelved, and that backers’ donations would be refunded.

Mercado “found a building, lined up the necessary funding, selected an architect, and partnered with some great new vendors,” Horwitz explained on its Indiegogo fundraising page. But after meeting complications, he canceled the project rather than change it or wait.

The prospective restaurant would feature Scott Kollig, the chef associated with the Mercado proposal, in 2015, said Tramont, who is Kollig’s mother. “They are in the formative stages and general locale where it should be, and are searching in that area,” she said.